My most well used Christmas present from last Christmas is arguably the Griffin Itrip FM Transmitter that my parents bought for me. Previous to actually receiving the itrip transmitter I had no idea what one was or that they even existed but it’s proved to be an invaluable present that I simply wouldn’t be without now.

The Itrip is produced by the company Griffin which was formed back in 1992 to produce items to complement products from Mac – these include innovative video, audio, serial, USB, FireWire and ADB adapters for Mac. Their latest range of products supports the range of ipods currently available from Apple and includes cases, docking systems, speakers and of course, the itrip.

So what is an itrip? Basically it’s a small piece of equipment which enables you to play your ipod music through any radio system, including a car radio system. The itrip is 6cm by 2cm and just over 1cm wide, it comes in black and white to suit both colours of the new generation ipod. On the top it has a small connector which plugs into the bottom of the video ipods and also has a small connector hole at the bottom to enable you to charge the ipod as you listen to the music. On the front of the itrip is a small LCD screen with a backlight which informs you of the frequency you are currently tuned into.

How does it work?

Firstly, there’s no on/off switch with the itrip, as soon as you plug it into the ipod and there’s a radio nearby it will immediately switch itself on and start playing. It needs to be quite near to the radio in order to minimize any disturbance, I usually place mine in the small holder about 10 inches from the radio system in my car. You need to change your radio to manual search in order to allow you to listen to every single frequency as you require one with no station already playing. Once you’re found one on the radio system you can then tune in the itrip. To adjust the frequency merely use the small wheel on the right hand side of the itrip, this will also allow you alternate between FM radios and SW radio channels. Once you’ve selected the frequency that works best for you merely press in the wheel to stop it moving. A bonus of the itrip is that it has no battery and therefore there is no need to re-charge it between uses, it merely takes its power supply from that of the ipod.

The best frequencies are those that currently don’t operate any sort of radio channel so that when you’re searching through your radio you’re looking for one that is either silent or just a lot of noise, i.e. no recognition of music or speaking can be heard on it. Obviously if you do choose one that is currently playing a radio station then that will interfere with the ipod’s music.

My Opinion

I was originally worried that as the itrip uses the ipod’s battery for its power supply, the battery of the ipod would decrease quite rapidly. However I was surprised to find this isn’t the case, it does decrease slightly quicker than normal head phone usage but on the whole the battery lasts just as long as it does when listening through head phones. The most I’ve ever playing the ipod for using the itrip is about 7 hours and the battery lasted fine for this period although did require recharging after as I doubt it would have lastedt much longer.

With regard to actually using the itrip I’ve found it’s very simple to use, when I did first use it it took me about an hour to discover the best frequency as very often as you drive around different radio stations will try to tune in and so cause disturbance. However after a bit of messing with the itrip and my car radio I’ve found a frequency that seems to work wherever I drive to (within reason of course) and now I rarely ever have to re-tune the itrip in as the frequency is stored on the itrip. The sound is crystal clear for the majority of time although on certain, random occasions a little disturbance or buzzing can be heard which is annoying but usually rectifies itself within about 10 seconds. As said on the site, “Even in large cities with lots of radio stations crowding the dial, itrip delivers a background noise level below that of a cassette tape adapter, allowing the music to play through clearly.”

If you’re interested in getting your hands on one of these Itrips then the best place to buy is online as I’ve yet to see them available in any high street stores. I bought mine from Ipod World (www.ipodworld.co.uk) where it is available at £33.99. They can also be found quite frequently on Ebay where they tend to sell for between £20 and £30.